For better and for worse: everyday social comparisons between romantic partners

The authors examined the frequency, direction, and impact of social comparisons between romantic partners. Comparisons were expected to occur on a daily basis, owing to regular interactions between partners. To the extent that one empathizes and shares outcomes with one's partner, one might respond more positively to upward than to downward comparisons. Study 1a was an experience-sampling study in which participants reported comparisons made to their spouse over 2 weeks. Study 1b examined reactions to the most significant comparisons made during the experience-sampling study. Participants reported making comparisons to their romantic partner more than once a day on average and experienced more positive responses to upward than to downward comparisons. Study 2 demonstrated that participants empathized and shared outcomes with their partner to a greater extent than with a friend. Study 3 confirmed that participants responded more positively to upward than to downward comparisons even for domains high in self-relevance and even when the comparison had negative self-evaluative implications. These results suggest that, owing to higher levels of empathy and shared fate with partners, comparisons function differently in romantic than in other relationships.     

Working models of romantic attachment and the subjective quality of social interactions across relational contexts

Two diary studies examined the effects of domain‐specific representations of romantic relationships (assessed using the Relationship Questionnaire in Study 1 and the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire in Study 2) on the subjective quality of social interactions across four relational contexts: those with a romantic partner, family member, platonic friend, or acquaintance/other. In both studies, domain‐specific romantic attachment, particularly attachment avoidance, was more strongly related to subjective experiences of social interactions involving a romantic partner than those with family members, platonic friends, or acquaintances/others. These results complement previous diary research using earlier categorical measures of attachment and elaborate upon the contextual effects of the attachment behavioral system in naturally occurring social interactions with different relational partners. The conditions under which working models of different relationship domains should influence interpersonal functioning are discussed, and a context‐congruence hypothesis of attachment effects, which encompasses the current findings and generates further predictions, is detailed.     

Behavior expectations in cross‐sex friendships,same‐sex friendships,and romantic relationships

Abstract In 2 studies, university students from the United States rated the importance of 43 behavior expectations about their cross‐sex friends, same‐sex friends and romantic partners. In Study 1, all 399 participants had a current romantic partner, whereas in Study 2, romantic partner status varied across the 165 participants. Participants always rated their expectations for romantic partners higher than for either type of friend, and expectations for behaviors promoting emotional closeness were always rated higher than expectations about behaviors promoting social companionship or relationship positivity. In Study 2, expectations for cross‐sex friends were rated lower and more similar to same‐sex friends when participants had a current romantic partner than when they did not.     

I do not know you and I am keeping it that way: Attachment avoidance and empathic accuracy in the perception of strangers

Two studies examined the association between attachment avoidance and empathic accuracy when perceiving strangers. In Study 1, participants with high attachment avoidance revealed lower accuracy in identifying the thoughts and feelings of their interaction partner compared with participants with low attachment avoidance. High‐avoidance participants also tended to mentally distance themselves from the other and thought less often about him or her. Study 2 replicated the pattern of lower empathic accuracy for high‐attachment‐avoidance participants, this time, when respondents did not actually interact with the target of perception. We discuss reasons for why people with high attachment avoidance might show impaired empathic accuracy while interacting with strangers. We also consider more general influences of attachment avoidance on perception processes and, consequently, on social success.     

Adult attachment and body satisfaction. An exploration of general and specific relationship differences

The relationship between general and specific adult relationship attachment and body satisfaction was examined in a community sample of 133 women. Participants completed measures of body image (body surveillance, body-as-object esteem, and body-as-process satisfaction) and general attachment (anxiety and avoidance) and then were primed for a romantic partner or close friend relationship, after which they completed specific measures of attachment and body satisfaction. General attachment results replicated previous research. Specific attachment results demonstrated distinct differences both from general attachment and between romantic partner attachment and close friend attachment. Attachment independently predicted body satisfaction both for general and close friend measures; however, in romantic relationships, only body surveillance independently contributed to body satisfaction.     

Transference of attachment patterns: How important relationships influence feelings toward novel people

This study was designed to examine how working models of attachment are transferred to novel relationships. Two targets were created that resembled either participants’ romantic partner or their parent. A third control target did not share overlapping features with participants’ significant others. Both global and specific working models of attachment influenced how participants perceived new people. The target manipulation also had a main effect on feelings toward the targets: Priming the representation of one’s partner evoked fears of rejection (attachment‐related anxiety) and reduced defensiveness (attachment‐related avoidance). Furthermore, relative to the control target, participants had a more positive overall attitude toward targets that resembled a partner but did not feel more positively toward targets that resembled a parent.     

Attachment‐related differences in secrecy and rumination in romantic relationships

The study examined attachment‐related predispositions and patterns of cognition and emotion that contribute to different secret‐keeping experiences. Participants (n = 380) reported on their secret keeping, rumination, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance via online questionnaires. Results showed that both anxiety and avoidance were positively associated with keeping a secret from a romantic partner, while only avoidance was associated with a greater total number of secrets kept. The association between avoidance and rumination was partially mediated by perceptions of a partner's ownership rights to the secret and guilt for keeping the secret, such that those who were highly avoidant were less likely to perceive a partner's ownership rights. Finally, highly anxious participants reported higher levels of rumination, which were mediated by feelings of guilt for keeping a secret. The study extends research on the link between secrecy and rumination by offering a theoretical account based on attachment for why some people are more likely to ruminate about their secrecy than others.     

Responses to comparisons in romantic relationships: Empathy,shared fate,and contrast

Individuals who empathize and share outcomes with their partner are likely to react more positively to upward comparisons (UCs) than downward comparisons (DCs). Three studies examined responses to comparisons in romantic relationships. Participants reported more positive affect following UCs than DCs; positive affect was also predicted by empathy and shared outcomes. Relationship‐maintaining responses were predicted by empathy and shared outcomes: Participants who felt boosted by sharing their partner's success were less likely to report distancing themselves from the partner following UCs, and participants who felt concern for their partner's failure were especially likely to help the partner following DCs. Our findings suggest that individuals respond functionally to these comparisons by focusing on protecting the relationship rather than protecting the self.     

Reconceptualizing adult attachment relationships: A network perspective

This article explores attachment relationships from a network theory perspective: Correlations among behaviors, beliefs, and feelings related to attachment are hypothesized to stem from causal relations. The authors used two data sets that assessed relationships with four attachment figures (mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend) using the Relationship Structures Questionnaire. Separate networks (Gaussian Graphical Models) were estimated based on 10 items for each attachment figure. Across networks in Study 1 (N = 310), items related to anxiety, seeking support, and discomfort disclosing feelings clustered with other items from their respective domains; a trust‐related item bridged the clusters. Study 2 replicated these findings in a larger and more diverse sample (N = 3,710). The potential of network analysis for advancing the study of attachment is discussed.     

Attachment insecurity and inducing guilt to produce desired change in romantic partners

Three studies examined the links between attachment insecurity and the use and effectiveness of inducing guilt to produce change in romantic partners (negative‐indirect partner regulation strategies). Individuals higher in attachment anxiety engaged in more negative‐indirect partner regulation strategies (Studies 1–3), but the effectiveness of negative‐indirect strategies depended on targeted partners' attachment avoidance. Targets higher in attachment avoidance reported regulation agents were less successful (Study 1) and reported less motivation to change across time (Study 2) when agents used more negative‐indirect regulation strategies. Negative‐indirect strategies during couples' conflict discussions were also associated with lower problem resolution when targets were higher in avoidance (Study 3). These results provide the first demonstration that target characteristics moderate the effectiveness of negative‐indirect regulation strategies.     

Conservatives Anticipate and Experience Stronger Emotional Reactions to Negative Outcomes

The present work examined whether conservatives and liberals differ in their anticipation of their own emotional reactions to negative events. In two studies, participants imagined experiencing positive or negative outcomes in domains that do not directly concern politics. In Study 1, 190 American participants recruited online (64 male, M_age = 32 years) anticipated their emotional responses to romantic relationship outcomes. In Study 2, 97 Canadian undergraduate students (26 male, M_age = 21 years) reported on their anticipated and experienced emotional responses to academic outcomes. In both studies, more conservative participants predicted they would feel stronger negative emotions following negative outcomes than did more liberal participants. Furthermore, a longitudinal follow‐up of Study 2 participants revealed that more conservative participants actually felt worse than more liberal participants after receiving a lower‐than‐desired exam grade. These effects remained even when controlling for the Big Five traits, prevention focus, and attachment style (Study 1), and optimism (Study 2). We discuss how the relationship between political orientation and anticipated affect likely contributes to differences between conservatives and liberals in styles of decision and policy choices.     

Controlled by Love: The Harmful Relational Consequences of Perceived Conditional Positive Regard

Research on conditional positive regard (CPR) has shown that this seemingly benign practice has maladaptive correlates when used by parents. However, there is no research on the correlates of this practice in romantic relationships or on the processes mediating its effects. Building on self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ), three studies tested the hypothesis that perceived CPR impairs relationship quality, partly because it undermines the fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy and relatedness. Study 1 (N = 125) examined perceived CPR and relationship quality across four relationship targets: mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend. Study 2, involving romantic partners (N = 142), examined whether needs fulfillment mediated the association between perceived CPR and relationship quality. Study 3, involving romantic dyads (N = 85), also included partner reports on CPR. Across the three studies, CPR was linked with poor relationship quality between relationships, between people, and between dyadic partners. Moreover, results of Study 2 and Study 3 revealed that the inverse association between perceived CPR and relationship quality was mediated by dissatisfaction of autonomy but not relatedness. Despite its seemingly benign nature, CPR is detrimental to relationship quality, partly because it thwarts the basic need for autonomy.     

Adult attachment and feedback‐seeking patterns in relationships and work

Adults with different attachment orientations rely on different areas of life to maintain self‐views. This paper reports two studies that examine the link between attachment and feedback‐seeking patterns in interpersonal and competence‐related domains. Participants in Study 1 imagined receiving feedback from a friend. Participants in Study 2 completed dyadic tasks and were promised feedback from interpersonal‐ and competence‐relevant sources. Across both studies, secure individuals consistently chose the most positive feedback. Individuals high in attachment avoidance sought negative feedback over positive, although dismissing‐avoidant individuals sought positive hypothetical feedback about autonomy. Study 2 further suggested that highly avoidant individuals were more open to negative feedback than positive feedback and than were secure individuals. Moreover, individuals high in attachment anxiety failed to seek positive interpersonal feedback but pursued interpersonal over competence feedback. Results highlight the role of feedback‐seeking in maintenance of positive or negative self‐views for adults with different attachment orientations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organization and predictive power of general and relationship-specific attachment models: one for all, and all for one?

Given recent evidence for multiple attachment models, we examined the organization and predictive power of general and relationship-specific attachment representations in two samples using two distinct measures of attachment models. With regard to associations among relationship-specific models, peer models (romantic partner and friend) and parental models (mother and father) were more similar to each other than to any other models, and anxiety/self-model representations were more consistent across relationships than avoidance/other-model representations. With regard to links between general and specific models, romantic and friend models made the strongest and independent contributions to general models, and romantic relationship involvement moderated the importance of romantic models to general models. With regard to differential predictive power of multiple models, general, romantic partner, and mother attachment made unique contributions to well-being indicators; relationship outcomes, however, were only predicted by individuals' corresponding relationship-specific models. Implications for the measurement and conceptualization of adult attachment are discussed.     

Direct and Indirect Aggression: Relationships as Social Context

The studies reported in this paper examined the effect of social context—target gender and target relationship—on reports of direct and indirect aggression. In Study 1, participants completed the Richardson Conflict Response Questionnaire (RCRQ; Richardson & Green, 2003 ), which measured their direct and indirect aggression behavior in response to anger. Participants also selected a relationship partner to complete the RCRQ with reference to their own (i.e., participants') behavior. In Study 2, participants completed the RCRQ with reference to their behavior in response to anger with a romantic partner, a same-sex friend, and an opposite-sex friend. In both studies, relationship with aggression target was an important determinant of aggression, with more direct aggression occurring in romantic relationships, and more indirect aggression occurring in friendship relationships.     

The thin line between reality and imagination: attachment orientations and the effects of relationship threats on sexual fantasies

The authors examined the effects of relationship threats on sexual fantasies. In two studies, participants described a sexual fantasy following an imagination task and reported their attachment orientations. In Study 1, participants imagined relationship or nonrelationship threat scenes. Results indicated that relationship threat led to fantasies that involved interpersonal distance and hostility themes. Furthermore, following relational threat, women and more anxiously attached individuals were most likely to use relationship-maintaining strategies in their fantasies. More anxiously attached individuals were also particularly likely to represent themselves as alienated. In Study 2, participants imagined sexual or emotional threat scenes. The findings showed that sexual threat elicited self-enhancement, whereas emotional threat led to fantasies involving both self-enhancement and attachment-related themes. Emotional threat was also most likely to induce negative views of others in more avoidant women. Implications for understanding the underlying functions of sexual fantasies within the context of romantic relationships are discussed.     

Self-Improvement as a Response to Interpersonal Regulation in Close Relationships: The Role of Attachment Styles

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to examine how the two dimensions of adult attachment styles, attachment anxiety and avoidance, would affect young adults' intentions of self-improvement in response to various regulatory strategies used by a close other (i.e., a romantic partner or best friend). One hundred and eighteen undergraduate students were involved in this study. Major findings include (a) the more avoidant an individual was, the less likely he/she would improve on those attributes that were desired to change by their close other; (b) a close other's use of the strategy “voice” was positively associated with individuals' intentions to self-improve, while the use of the strategy “exit” was negatively associated with individuals' intentions to self-improve; (c) a close other's use of “loyalty” was associated with a lower level of intentions to self-improve, except for participants scored high on attachment avoidance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed.